PHOTOSHOOTS
FILMING "THINKING OF YOU" MUSIC VIDEO:
UNFINISHED JOURNEY - THE MAKING OF THE ALBUM:
ALBUM TOUR 2010
ALBUM TOUR 2007
ETHIOPIA
In 2004 I experienced one of the most life changing events, one that I will always remember. I spent 2 and 1/2 months in beautiful Ethiopia embracing the culture, learning the language and doing everything I could to help like: * Teaching English in a little Primary School in Addis Ababa. * Working in the remote village clinic of Langano where we saw an average 120 pregnant women a day. * Working with street kids. * Working with prostitutes. * Visiting the amazing Fistula Hospital which was set up in 1974 by New Zealander Dr Reginald Hamlin and his Australian wife Dr Catherine Hamlin. These two have changed the lives of thousand of young pregnant women in Ethiopia with the condition known as Fistula. * We Travelled up country to Lalibela and Bahadar to see the miracle Churches dug into the rock. * Worked in the Mother Teresa AIDS Orphanage - this is what hit me the hardest. I saw one of Africa's worst killers......... AIDS in all its glory. There were 300 children in this Orpganage from ages 6 days to 16 years all with AIDS. My intensions were to change their lives, I wasn't sure how but these children ended up changing mine. They showed me what it truely meant to live, to breath, to be greatful for what I had. They showed me that it didn't matter who I was or where I came from or whatever I have done in the past, that God can love me too! These Children praised God for their lives and even though it seems like they have nothing, they truely had more than I will ever understand, they had Life. But the hardest thing for me to grasp was that some villages in Ethiopia still believe that AIDS is a "curse" and to be rid of the "curse" you have to sleep with a virgin. Some families are offering their children as sacrifices for cleansing rituals and when the children start to show signs of the "curse" they have to leave the village before the "curse" spreads throughout. They would be dumped at the gates of the AIDS Orphanages. Everyday a new child would be waiting when we opened the doors, some because of the "curse", others because their parents have died of AIDS and there is no one else to take care of them. AIDS is a big killer throughout Africa and mllions of people/children are diying every day. I could tell you the statistics like 1 child dies every 3 seconds and 30,000 children under the age of 5 die every day but these numbers mean nothing. You can't comprehend that many children dying everyday? So let me tell you about ONE child. He has a name........ His name was Teddy and he was 12 years old. Teddy was offered as a scarifice, rejected from his village and now dying of AIDS. Teddy is back from hospital after his second blood transfusion which he is re-acting to, is all swollen and sore and he knows he is dying. I sat with teddy and talked with him everyday, played what games we could and then one day Teddy asked me to help him write his goodbye letter. I cried as I wrote his words "I now go into the hands of God, thank you for leading me into this moment. Thank you for treating me like a son, for being my mother, for helping me. I thank God for you, I thank God for my life". A week later Teddy did go into the hands of God, on a day which should have been a celebration - Ethiopian Christmas Day. Teddy is no longer a statistic, no longer an unrealistic number that I can't comprehend. He is a real little boy, who had real hopes and dreams. I hope that you remember his name and not get numb to things happening outside of your comfort zone. I hope that you get challenged to remember those less fortunate even in these recession times and I especially hope that you look at sponsoring a child or even giving to organisations that make it their purpose in life to see AIDS wiped in a nation so rampant, to see hunger and disease changed because these people deserve a change and we are the ones that can give them that hope.
OUR KIDS AT THE ORPHANGE
TEACHING ENGLISH
LANGANO - DOWN COUNTRY
FISTULA HOSPITAL
A fistula is simply a hole between an internal organ and the outside world that should not exist. There are two primary causes of fistula in women in developing countries: childbirth, causing obstetric fistula and sexual violence, causing traumatic fistula. Obstetric fistula the most devastating of all childbirth injuries: An obstetric fistula develops when blood supply to the tissues of the vagina and the bladder (and/or rectum) is cut off during prolonged obstructed labor. The tissues die and a hole forms through which urine and/or feces pass uncontrollably. Women who develop fistulas are often abandoned by their husbands, rejected by their communities, and forced to live an isolated existence. More than two million women live with fistula: Eradicated in western countries at the end of the 19th century when cesarean section became widely available, obstetric fistula continues to plague women throughout the developing world. It is estimated that there are 100,000 new fistula cases each year, but the international capacity to treat fistula remains at only 6,500 per year. The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) estimates the world's population of fistula sufferers at more than two million. Nerve damage and psychological trauma: The WHO has called fistula “the single most dramatic aftermath of neglected childbirth”. In addition to complete incontinence, a fistula victim may develop nerve damage to the lower extremities after a multi-day labor in a squatting position. Fistula victims also suffer profound psychological trauma resulting from their utter loss of status and dignity. Traumatic fistula -- when rape is used as a tool of war: The consequences of fistula are life altering when the injury goes unrepaired. In Congo, rape is being used as a tool of war on a massive scale. The result is often traumatic fistulas, that is holes in bladders, vagina and rectum that are caused by rape or attack using bayonets, wood, and even guns. The Economistmagazine recently estimated that 80% of the fistula cases in the Congo were the result of sexual violence. For the women with the injury, they are still very much in need of treatment, and psychological counseling as well. The Panzi Hospital in the Congo, founded by Congolese gynecologist Denis Mukwege is a pioneer in helping these victims of rape.
